As we know, you can be for something or against something. The stuff of confrontation. We won’t go there. This is a soothing place. The poems we write are either “For” poems (For The Love Of Pete, For Your Own Good…) or “Against” poems (Against All Odds, Against The Clock…). Keep the peace and write your piece, for or against, it’s all good.
WALT’S CHOICE:
AGAINST ALL KNOWLEDGE We think the thoughts we think wondering if we really know that of which we speak. At the peak of our knowing we realize that we really don't know what we think we do, and it's true. We flow contrary to the facts that show, against all knowledge. (c) Walter J Wojtanik - 2023
POETIC BLOOMINGS 
Great response to a fun prompt Walt. A ying/yang of mindfulness.
Agreed, and your piece, Walt, reminds me of the song, “Both Sides Now.”
yes it does and I love that song
I agree with Damon!
Time Against My Mayonnaise
My mayonnaise has met its fate,
so says it’s “ best if used by date.”
The groceries-–memories?–I’ve acquired
seem now, inside the fridge expired.
The doors were closed, the dark and cold
inside had let the facts grow old.
I wonder where the mustard went? Why is this cuke so soft and spent?
This milk is lumpy … what’s your name?
This juice it doesn’t taste the same.
The crisper drawer holds nothing crisp,
just celery limp, a dried up wisp.
Whose picture, magnetized up here,
is this? It looks like someone dear.
What did I come to this room for?
The cold air flows down to the floor.
A chill surrounds my feet, I start
to feel an angst surround my heart.
I’m hungry, I think, I’m not sure…
it seems old mayonnaise has no cure.
(C) Damon Dean, 2O23
So delightful!
Couldn’t agree more!
Hah and my mother would have told you there is no use for mayonnaise except to make potato salad or chicken salad and very light when you use it then. She felt the same about butter.
Love this, Damon!
AGAINST THE NIGHT
By earliest-morning
beams of light I spy them,
beginning flights in skies
begging for birthing sun,
bringing their bountiful
benefice to the dawn.
Blessed be the bluebirds.
An amazing set of Bs!
COUPLETS FOR A CRAYON BOX
Red is present in all its glory,
with orange adding to the story;
green is ready to present
its case when blue is nearly spent;
brown’s for coloring trunks of kauri
and black is sort of an anti-hoary.
Purple recalls what passion meant,
but I wonder where the yellow went.
I love this
Well done, William!
Against the Wind
Did you ever walk
against a strong wind
and it stops suddenly
and you fall over?
That happens
in places like Wyoming.
That’s how I feel
when I finish a big project.
I have to pick myself up
dust myself off,
find my bearings,
then go on to the next one.
Love the picture this draws.
Good one, Connie!
For the Love of God
Must every option
for something
also be a decision
against another?
When I am at ease,
I write.
When I am uneasy,
I write more,
not squeezing life,
merely caressing it.
Simplicity and proportion.
Balance matters.
When a tree dies,
I plant another.
So soothing, this.
ALL FOR CURRENT DAY
being present now
gives clarity somehow
versus pushing against the past
we can but it won’t last
going forward leads us on
standing against we might fall upon
an old set of structure
many things that simply deter
current growth and progressive motion
pushing beyond any old notion
why not move towards what you’re for
why hide against the tide not wanting more
we can be up against anything we want to
building walls, feeling cornered, nothing to do
or free up the flow and start to go
continue to learn, set sail and grow
thank goodness it is an open choice
to be for or against, share your voice
good to know we can take a stand
acknowledging our thoughts, where we land
and as life moves us step by step
we can change our minds from no to yep
after all that’s what life’s about
constant shift and change, without a doubt
that’s how it comes and it goes
bringing us both the highs and the lows
we probably wouldn’t like it any other way
I’m all for that, at least, today
(c) Janet Rice Carnahan 2023
Love this, especially “….. from no to yep.”
Nice, Janet!
For and Against
I’m for
All that is good
‘Cause the good comes from God
It’s how He shows His love for us
Good gives us cause to praise Him
And then
Satan tempts us
With bad disguised as good
He’s the Master of Deception
We must never let him win
My Friend
Are you my friend or my enemy?
Who will you prove yourself to be to me?
When the tornado roars in
As I know it will again
When it tries to spin me back to sin
Will you be a helping hand
That offers strength, support,
Enables me to fly free
And another battle to win?
When the strong wind blows in
As I know it will again,
When it tries to carry me off to sin
Will you be part of my destruction,
Try to trip me, send me to the abyss,
Wrestle me to the ground,
And tempt me with empty promises?
Are you my friend or my enemy?
Who will you prove yourself to be to me?
Part of my salvation
or part of my destruction?
Love in action or hatred unleashed?
One who breaths hope and life or
One who speaks useless deceit?
Outstanding, Shelly!
Pushing that Clock
There were only
Four weeks in a month,
Five work days in a week,
Eight hours in those days,
Sixty minutes in those hours,
And I had forty children
To travel to see,
To spend at least an hour
Once I was there,
Thirty minutes to
Write up my visit,
And there never was
Enough time for all that.
Yet the dragons
Who did audits
Never did my job,
And only saw value
For the state to get paid
For all those hours
Called billable
They counted the money
I made for them
Six hundred forty-four dollars
For each of those forty children
And I did it again the next month.
My value was not in that money,
But in those moments
With those children
Who gave me smiles,
And broke my heart,
But those dragons never saw those moments…
I loved my job…
I love the children…
The dragons made pushing the clock
More important than the work I did, and
I became just a number,
And woe is me,
If I didn’t meet my quota,
And it was all of that
Which helped me decide
It was time,
For me to leave
For I was not appreciated
Anymore.
Mary Elizabeth Todd
March 19, 2023
I like the word ‘dragons’ for these people.
Over the last ten years I made over 3.000.000 for the state yet my pay was not even $40,000.
For The Good Of Earth
Please
wake up.
Look around
you. Ask questions.
What can I do to save
oceans, attract butterflies,
protect whales, promote health for all–
people and animals? Write letters
to all representatives who are
supposed to be representing
you. Attend demonstrations.
Write poems for all to share
your views. Feed children,
animals.
Do your
part.
Gentle marching orders, eh wot?
That’s exactly what they are.
For Staying in Town
The road that leads out of towns
takes me back to the lights
and sounds of the place
I’ve long known.
I’ve long known
the songs, the streets
the sweeping boulevards
still living in memories.
Still living in memories
the first dance
the first kiss
a younger life I embrace.
A younger life I embrace
as a pond glistens in afternoon
silent reflections of a life well-lived-
I’ve come back again.
Nice form, handled wonderfully.
Love that last stanza, Mike!
So I’m All For
You got to stand for something,
or you’ll fall for anything Aaron Tippin, 1990
–feeding birds all winter long knowing
the reward of spring song while
hanging nectar bottles for first hummingbirds
due in the wake of the equinox
–myriads of zinnias circling the birdbath
feeding Monarch and Fritillary, Swallowtail
and bright sulfur, tiny azure
Painted Lady and Question-mark
–wandering back roads to between
emerald wheat fields only to spot
three bald eagles and eight deer
on a crisp morning rich with frog song
–fickle yet trusting barn cats that come in
for a quick rub against my blue jeaned legs
but are too aloof for petting
–cascading moth orchids blooming
on the two-tier toy bench crafted by my father
in front of the French doors, silent sentinels
to all that happens outside and beyond
–fields of daffodils gone rogue
in the absence of the old homestead
more than a hundred clumps sprinkled
like newly minted doubloons winking in the sun
–beauty for its own sake
stewardship for the planet
legacies for future generations
sun and rain and rainbows.
Painted beautifully
Sent from my iPhone
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Thank you! Red wing blackbirds have just arrived!
More reliable than Canada geese, at least in western New York.
“more than a hundred clumps sprinkled
like newly minted doubloons winking in the sun”
Beautiful, Pat!
Thank you!! It’s an amazing sight!!
For all the things I have lost…
I found a little bottle.
It was old and inside-
My mother penned a note…
Saying it was given to her-
By my father
Before they married.
Seeing her clean
Handwriting stopped my heart…
How I miss coming home at night
Finding some note she wrote…
While I was at work
Because she heard
Words that made her think.
Such a simple bottle
With a teal blue top
With edges that once was gold.
I remember opening it,
When I was young,
And inside that bottle
Were the smells of exotic places-
That I had yet to visit.
She took it from my small hands,
And in her eyes, I saw memories-
That I could not comprehend.
She is gone-
Like the others.
Memories
Are pieces of paper
That I find,
And my tears tumble
Down my face
For the things I have lost-
Something most will not understand-
Until they are the last one, and
Then my words will pierce them.
Mary Elizabeth Todd
March 20, 2023
Indelible image, that bottle.